Liberal Arts Services

Summer Class

Course Description

The Shakespeare at Winedale Summer Class is a course dedicated to the study of Shakespeare's plays through performance. This course offers and educational and theatrical experience of great intensity, as well as a unique opportunity for group interaction and self-exploration, to students from any discipline. The program is open to students of all majors. The first part of the course is an individual study, correspondence, conference course (E678a) preparing the student through reading of the texts, source materials, scholarship, and criticism. The second part of the course (E678b) is taken in residence at the 250-acre University of Texas Winedale Historical Center, near Round Top, Texas.

The 2015 Summer Class will study Twelfth Night, Henry V, Pericles, and The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster. At Winedale, students live and work in a peaceful pastoral setting and perform in a century-old German hay barn that has been converted into an Elizabethan-style theatre. The isolated wooded landscape provides a special kind of magic and a uniquely focused intensity for the exploration of these supremely demanding plays. Students study Shakespeare 15-18 hours a day, seven days a week, in the 1880 Theatre Barn. The summer concludes with 24 public performances of the plays studied and a two week touring residency.

Shakespeare at Winedale is intended for students from all disciplines who are prepared to take risks and commit themselves to a creatively and intellectually demanding style of performance. Application is by interview, not audition, and special consideration is given to students who have never performed before. Students from any college or university will be considered, with some preference given to undergraduates. The keys to success at Winedale are a fertile imagination, an eagerness to learn, a willingness to play, and a high level of dedication and stamina.

How to Apply

A formal application for Shakespeare at Winedale consists of: (1) a completed application form accompanied by (2) a three-page essay addressing your personal history and your interest in Shakespeare at Winedale. Once we have the application, we will e-mail information about your interviews.